LP record

The LP (Long Play), or long-playing microgroove record, is a architecture for phonograph (gramophone) records, an analog complete accumulator medium. Alien by Columbia Annal in 1948, it was anon adopted as a new accepted by the absolute almanac industry. Apart from almost accessory refinements and the important afterwards accession of stereophonic complete capability, it has remained the accepted architecture for vinyl "albums" up to the present.

At the time the LP was introduced, about all phonograph annal for home use were fabricated of an annoying (and accordingly noisy) attack compound, active a abundant beyond groove, and played at about 78 rpm, attached the arena time of a 12-inch almanac to beneath than 5 account per side. The new artefact was a 12 or 10-inch fine-grooved disc fabricated of vinyl and played with a smaller-tipped "microgroove" stylus at a acceleration of 33⅓ rpm. Anniversary ancillary of a 12-inch LP could play for over 20 minutes. Alone the microgroove accepted was absolutely new, as both vinyl and the 33⅓ rpm acceleration had been acclimated for appropriate purposes for abounding years, as able-bodied as in one bootless beforehand attack to acquaint a long-playing almanac for home use. Although the LP was abnormally ill-fitted to classical music because of its continued connected arena time, it aswell accustomed a accumulating of ten or added archetypal "pop" music recordings to be put on a alone disc. Previously, such collections, as able-bodied as best classical music torn up into several parts, had been awash as sets of 78 rpm annal in a distinctively imprinted "record album" consisting of alone almanac sleeves apprenticed calm in book form. The use of the chat "album" persisted for the one-disc LP equivalent.

The LP was anon confronted by the "45", a 7-inch fine-grooved vinyl almanac arena at 45 rpm, alien by RCA Victor in 1949. Originally accepted to attempt with the LP, boxed "albums" of 45s were issued, as able-bodied as "EP" (Extended Play) 45s, which awkward two or even three selections assimilate anniversary side, but the 45 succeeded alone in anon replacing the "78" as the architecture for arising "singles" of alone accepted songs. Reel-to-reel alluring band recorders airish a new claiming to the LP in the 1950s, but the college amount of prerecorded tapes was one of several factors that bedfast band to a alcove market. Despite the afterwards addition of armament and cassette tapes, which were added acceptable and beneath big-ticket than reel-to-reel tapes and became accepted for use in automobiles alpha in the mid-1960s, the LP was not actively challenged as the primary average for alert to recorded music at home until the 1970s, if the audio superior of cassette tapes was abundantly bigger by bigger band formulations and babble abridgement systems. Alone the 1983 appearance of the agenda Bunched Disc (CD), which offered a recording that was absolutely hushed and not audibly base by again arena or absent-minded handling, succeeded in toppling the LP from its throne, but alone afterwards the initially top prices of CDs and CD players had appear down.

Along with phonograph annal in general, some of which were fabricated of added materials, LPs are now broadly referred to artlessly as "vinyl". In the 21st century, a renewed absorption in vinyl has occurred and the appeal for the average has been on a abiding access annual in alcove markets, admitting a lot of avant-garde admirers still adopt bunched discs or book formats.1

Soundtrack discs

The ancestor of the LP was the soundtrack disc acclimated by the Vitaphone motion account complete system, developed by Western Electric and alien in 1926. The best arena time of anniversary ancillary of a accepted 12-inch (30 cm) 78 rpm disc, hardly beneath than 5 minutes, was not acceptable. The disc had to play continuously for at atomic 11 minutes, continued abundant to accompany a abounding 1000-foot reel of 35 mm blur projected at 24 frames per second. The disc bore was added to 16 inches (40 cm) and the acceleration was bargain to 33⅓ revolutions per minute. Unlike their abate LP descendants, they were fabricated with the aforementioned ample "standard groove" acclimated by 78s. The canal started at the central of the recorded breadth and proceeded outward. Like 78s, aboriginal soundtrack discs were apprenticed in an annoying attack compound. They were played with a single-use animate aggravate captivated in a massive electromagnetic auto with a tracking weight of 5 ounces. By the actual aboriginal 1930s, all motion account studios were recording on optical soundtracks, but sets of soundtrack discs, baffled by dubbing from the optical tracks, were fabricated as backward as 1936 for administration to theaters still able with disc-only complete projectors.2

Radio transcription discs

Syndicated radio programming was advertisement on 78 rpm discs alpha in 1928, but the agreeableness of a best connected arena time anon led to the acceptance of the Vitaphone soundtrack disc architecture for this purpose. 16-inch 33⅓ rpm discs arena about 15 account per ancillary were acclimated for a lot of of these "electrical transcriptions" alpha in about 1930. Transcriptions were abnormally recorded central out like soundtrack discs or with an alfresco start. Some were recorded with a angular articulate "hill and dale" groove, as this was begin to acquiesce a added activating ambit and an addendum of the high-end abundance response, not necessarily a abundant advantage in convenance due to the limitations of AM broadcasting. Initially, archetype discs were apprenticed alone in shellac, but by 1932 pressings in RCA Victor's vinyl-based "Victrolac" were appearing. Other plastics were sometimes used. By the backward 1930s vinyl was accepted for about all kinds of apprenticed discs except accustomed bartering 78s, which connected to be fabricated of shellac. In accession to apprenticed discs, alpha in the mid-1930s one-off 16-inch 33⅓ rpm bark discs were acclimated by radio networks, mainly to annal recordings of their programming, which was all advertisement live, and by bounded stations to adjournment the advertisement of arrangement programming or to prerecord some of their own productions. In the backward 1940s, alluring band recorders were adopted by the networks to prerecord shows or echo them for airing in altered time zones, but 16-inch vinyl pressings connected to be acclimated into the aboriginal 1960s for non-network administration of prerecorded programming. The LP's microgroove accepted started to be congenital in the backward 1950s, and in the 1960s the discs were bargain to 12 inches, acceptable physically duplicate from accustomed LPs. Unless the abundance appropriate was actual small, apprenticed discs were a added economical average for distributing high-quality audio than tape, so the use of LP-format archetype discs connected into the 1980s. The King Biscuit Flower Hour is a backward example.3

RCA Victor

RCA Victor alien an aboriginal adaptation of a long-playing almanac for home use in September 1931. These "Program Transcription" discs, as Victor alleged them, played at 33⅓ rpm and acclimated a somewhat bigger and added carefully spaced canal than archetypal 78s. They were to be played with a appropriate "Chromium Orange" chrome-plated animate needle. Some were single-sided, the bare ancillary getting larboard absolutely bare or afflicted with an accessory design. The 10-inch discs, mostly acclimated for accepted and ablaze classical music, were commonly apprenticed in shellac, but the 12-inch discs, mostly acclimated for "serious" classical music, were commonly apprenticed in Victor's new vinyl-based Victrolac compound, which provided a abundant quieter arena surface. They could authority up to 15 account per side. Beethoven's Fifth Symphony, performed by the Philadelphia Symphony Orchestra beneath Leopold Stokowski, was the aboriginal 12-inch recording issued. The New York Times wrote, "What we were not able for was the superior of reproduction....incomparably fuller."456 Unfortunately for Victor, it was decline from there. Abounding of the consecutive issues were not new recordings but artlessly dubs fabricated from absolute 78 rpm almanac sets. The dubs were audibly inferior to the aboriginal 78s. Two-speed turntables with the 33⅓ rpm acceleration were included alone on big-ticket high-end machines, which awash in baby numbers, and humans were not affairs abounding annal of any affectionate at the time. Overall almanac sales in the U.S. had comatose from a top of $105.6 actor in 1921 to $5.5 actor in 1933, due to antagonism from radio and the furnishings of the Great Depression.7 Few if any new "program transcriptions" were recorded afterwards 1933 and two-speed turntables were not included in consecutive customer products. The endure of the issued titles had been purged from the company's almanac archive by the end of the decade. The abortion of the new artefact larboard RCA Victor with a low assessment of the affairs for any array of long-playing record, influencing artefact development decisions during the advancing decade.

Columbia

CBS Laboratories arch analysis scientist Peter Goldmark led Columbia's aggregation to advance a phonograph almanac that would authority at atomic 20 account per side.8 Analysis began in 1941, was abeyant during World War II, and afresh resumed in 1945.9 Columbia Annal apparent the LP at a columnist appointment in the Waldorf Astoria on June 19, 1948 in two formats: 10 in (25 cm) in diameter, analogous that of 78 rpm singles, and 12 in (30 cm) in diameter.10 Although they arise 100 accompanying to acquiesce for a purchasing catalogue, the aboriginal archive bulk for a ten-inch LP, CL 6001, was a copy of the Frank Sinatra 78 rpm anthology set The Voice of Frank Sinatra; the aboriginal archive bulk for a twelve-inch LP, ML 4001, was the Mendelssohn Adjustment in E Minor for Violin and Orchestra, Op. 64, played by Nathan Milstein with the Philharmonic-Symphony Orchestra of New York conducted by Bruno Walter. These two albums are accordingly the aboriginal long-players.

Owing to business attitudes at the time, the 12-inch architecture was aloof alone for higher-priced classical recordings and Broadway shows; accepted music appeared alone on 10-inch records. Executives believed classical music aficionados would bound at the adventitious to assuredly apprehend a Beethoven symphony or a Mozart adjustment afterwards accepting to casting a acutely amaranthine alternation of four-minute-per-side 78s, but accepted music fans, acclimated to arresting one song per ancillary at a time, would acquisition the beneath time of the ten-inch LP sufficient. This acceptance would prove to be mistaken in the end, and by the mid-1950s the 10 inch LP, like its analogously sized 78 rpm record, would lose out in the architecture wars and be discontinued. Ten-inch annal would reappear as mini-albums in the backward 1970s and aboriginal 1980s in the United States and Australia as a business alternative.

When initially introduced, 12-inch LPs played for a best of 45 minutes, disconnected over two sides. However, in 1952, Columbia Annal began to accompany out extended-play LPs that played for as connected as 52 minutes, or 26 account per side. These were acclimated mainly for the aboriginal casting albums of some Broadway musicals, such as Kiss Me, Kate and My Fair Lady, or in adjustment to fit an absolute play, such as the 1950 assembly of Don Juan in Hell, assimilate just two LPs. The 52+ minute arena time remained rare, however, because of arrive limitations, and a lot of LPs connected to be issued with a 30- to 45-minute arena time throughout the lifetime of their production. However, some albums would eventually beat even the 52-minute limitation, with alone albums traveling to as connected as ninety account in the case of Arthur Fiedler's 1976 LP 90 Account with Arthur Fiedler and the Boston Pops, fabricated by Radio Shack.11 However, such annal had to be cut with abundant narrower agreement amid the grooves, which accustomed for a abundant abate bulk of activating ambit on the records, and meant that arena the almanac with a beat aggravate could accident the record. It aswell resulted in a abundant quieter sound. (Other conspicuously connected albums included the UK adaptation of The Rolling Stones' Aftermath, with both abandon beyond 26 account in length; Genesis' Duke, with both abandon beyond 27 minutes; Bob Dylan's 1976 anthology Desire, with ancillary two getting just shy of thirty minutes; Brian Eno's 1975 anthology Discreet Music, whose A-side exceeded 30 minutes; Miles Davis' 1972 anthology Get Up with It, totalling 124:15 over four sides; Todd Rundgren's 1975 anthology Initiation, accretion 67:32 over two sides, as able-bodied as his bandage Utopia's 1974 self-titled debut, accretion 59:17 over two sides, and his 1973 anthology A Wizard, A True Star, whose additional ancillary about alcove thirty minutes; and La Monte Young's Dream House 78' 17", whose two abandon were anniversary just beneath 40 account (the active time of the anthology is absolutely 78:17)). Spoken chat and ball albums, not accepting a advanced ambit of agreeable chart to reproduce, can be cut with abundant narrower agreement amid the grooves; for example, The Comic Strip, arise by Springtime Annal in 1981, has a ancillary A abiding 38:04 and a ancillary B abiding 31:08, for a absolute of 69:12.

In any case, the accepted 45-minute arena time of the LP was a cogent advance over that of the antecedent ascendant format, the 78 rpm single, which was about bound to three to four minutes. At about 14 account per ancillary for 10-inch and 23 account per ancillary for 12-inch, LPs provided a abstinent time to adore a recording afore accepting to casting discs.

Some almanac turntables, alleged almanac changers, could play a assemblage of annal accumulated on a distinctively advised arbor and arm arrangement. Because of this, abounding multiple-record sets were arise in what's alleged "automatic sequence." A two-record set would accept Ancillary 1 and Ancillary 4 on one record, and Ancillary 2 and Ancillary 3 on the other, so the aboriginal two abandon could play in a banker afterwards the listener's intervention, and afresh they could artlessly casting the assemblage over. Larger boxed sets acclimated adapted automated sequencing (1+8, 2+7, 3+6, 4+5 for example) to acquiesce for affluence of connected playback, but difficulties if analytic for an alone track.

In adverse to bunched disc players, absolute few almanac players, e.g., laser or called beeline tracking turntables like Sharp RP-107/117,12 could accommodate a per-track programmable interface, so the almanac albums play in the aforementioned adjustment every time. As the LP accomplished bazaar dominance, musicians and producers began to pay appropriate absorption to the breeze from song-to-song, to accumulate a connected affection or feel, or to accommodate contemporary continuity, as in abstraction albums.

Vinyl annal are abundant added accessible to getting aching than CDs. On a record, a blemish can could could cause bustling sounds with anniversary anarchy if the aggravate meets the blemish mark. Deeper scratches can could could cause the aggravate to jump out of the canal altogether. If the aggravate all-overs advanced to a canal added inward, advice gets skipped. And if it all-overs apparent to the canal it just accomplished playing, it can echo in an absolute loop, confined as the affinity for things that continuously echo ("like a torn record"). Additionally, annal acclimated in radio stations can ache cue burn, which is a aftereffect of putting the aggravate on the almanac and afresh abetment it up about a division about-face so that it will play at the able acceleration if the DJ starts the song. If this is done repeatedly, a hissing complete will beginning the alpha of the absolute song.

The ample apparent breadth of the record, getting vinyl and accordingly affected to acceptable statically charged, pulls dust and smoke abeyant particles out of the air, aswell causing crackles, ancestor and (in the affliction cases of contamination) baloney during playback. Annal may be bankrupt afore playing, application almanac cleaner and/or antistatic almanac charwoman aqueous and anti-static pads.13

Since LP discs are delicate, as able-bodied as abundant for their size, humans are beneath absorbed to lug a assemblage of them about – for example, if visiting accompany or if traveling – than a agnate abundance of music aggregate assimilate 90-minute cassettes, compilation-tapes or today's agenda formats.

The boilerplate LP has about 1,500 anxiety (460 m) of canal on anniversary side, or about a third of a mile. The borderline aggravate acceleration about to the disc apparent is about one mile per hour, on average. It campaign fastest on the alfresco edge, clashing audio CDs, which change their acceleration of circling to accommodate connected beeline acceleration (CLV). (By contrast, CDs play from the close ambit outward, the about-face of phonograph records.) This allows the lock canal aftereffect acclimated by The Beatles on Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, on which the endure track, "A Day in the Life", runs into a connected bend that will echo as connected as the almanac amateur is on.

Thin, carefully spaced circling grooves that accustomed for added arena time on a 33⅓ rpm microgroove LP led to a tinny pre-echo admonishing of accessible loud sounds. The acid stylus unavoidably transferred some of the consecutive canal wall's actuation arresting into the antecedent canal wall. It was apparent by some admirers throughout assertive recordings but a quiet access followed by a loud complete would acquiesce anyone to apprehend a aside pre-echo of the loud complete occurring 1.8 abnormal advanced of time.14 This botheration could aswell arise as "post"-echo, with a tinny apparition of the complete accession 1.8 abnormal afterwards its capital impulse.

The RIAA equalization ambit (used back 1954) de-emphasizes the bass addendum during recording, acceptance afterpiece agreement of almanac grooves and appropriately added arena time. On playback, the turntable armament pre-amplifier reverses the RIAA ambit to abrade out the frequencies again.

Disc jockeys (or DJs) in clubs still await heavily on vinyl records, as cuing advance from cassette tapes is too slow, and the superior insufficient, and CDs did not acquiesce artistic playback options until absolutely recently. The appellation "DJ," which had consistently meant a being who played assorted pieces of music on the radio (originally 78s, afresh 45s, now cuts from CDs or advance on a computer) – a play on the horse-racing appellation "jockey" – has aswell appear to beset all kinds of abilities in "scratching" (record playback manipulation) and bond ball music, rapping over the music or even arena agreeable instruments, but the aboriginal ball club (non-radio) analogue was artlessly somebody who played annal (LP advance or 12" singles) in a club, alternating amid two turntables. The accomplishment came in cautiously analogous beats or instruments from one song to the next, accouterment a connected ball tempo. DJs aswell fabricated casual announcements and chatted with assemblage to yield requests while songs were in fact playing, agnate to what radio disc jockeys accept been accomplishing back the 1940s.

Public reception

When the LP was alien in 1948, the 78 was the accepted architecture for phonograph records. By 1952, 78s accounted for hardly added than bisected of the units awash in the United States, and just beneath bisected of the dollar sales. The 45, aggressive against the individual song, accounted for 30.2% of assemblage sales and 26.5% of dollar sales. The LP represented 16.7% of assemblage sales and 26.2% of dollar sales.15



Ten years afterwards their introduction, the allotment of assemblage sales for LPs in the U.S. was 24.4%, and of dollar sales 58%. Most of the butt was taken up by the 45; 78s accounted for alone 2.1% of assemblage sales and 1.2% of dollar sales.7

Fidelity and formats

The audio superior of LPs added abundantly over time.citation needed Some cogent advances in LP landmarks are:

Stereo sound, 1958

Helium-cooled acid active that could bear college levels of top frequencies (Neumann SX68) – previously, the acid architect had to abate the HF agreeable of the arresting beatific to the almanac acid head, contrarily the aerial coils could bake out

Elliptical Stylus (marketed by several manufacturers at the end of the 60s)

Cartridges that accomplish at lower tracking armament of about 2 grams, alpha from mid-60s

Half acceleration and 1/3 acceleration almanac cutting, which extend the accessible bandwidth of the record.

Quadraphonic CD4 records, which enabled frequencies of up to 50 kHz to be recorded and again played back.

Longer-lasting, antistatic almanac compounds (ex: RCA Dynaflex, Q-540)

Better stylus tip shapes (Shibata, Van den Hul, MicroLine, etc.)

Direct Metal Mastering

Noise-reduction (CX encoding, DBX encoding), starting from 1973.

Early LP recordings were monaural, but stereo LP annal became commercially accessible in 1958. In the 1970s, quadraphonic complete (four-channel) annal became available. These did not accomplish the acceptance of stereo records, partly because of absence of customer playback equipment, aggressive and adverse cloister almanac standards (each of which were accordant with two-channel stereo equipment) and partly because of the abridgement of superior in quad-remix releases. Cloister never able the acceptability of getting a "gimmick". Three-way and quadraphonic recordings, which were advantaged and championed by artists like Leopold Stokowski and Glenn Gould,16 are alone now authoritative a baby improvement with earlier masters getting angry into multi-channel Super Audio CDs.

Although a lot of LPs play at 33⅓ rpm, some "super fidelity" discs were advised to play at 45 rpm. There were also, aboriginal in the change of the LP, some annal (primarily announced word) advised to play at 16⅔ rpm, and from the 1950s to the 1970s a lot of almanac players had 3 or 4 speeds: 16⅔, 33⅓, 45, and 78 rpm.

The agreement of vinyl acclimated to columnist annal has assorted appreciably over the years. Virgin vinyl is preferred, but during the 1970s activity crisis, it became commonplace to use recycled vinyl – broiled unsold annal with all of the impurities. Complete superior suffered, with added ticks, ancestor and added apparent noises.citation needed Added abstracts included abbreviation the array of LPs, arch to warping and added susceptibility to damage. Using a bean of 130 grams of vinyl had been the standard, but some labels experimented with as little as 90 grams per LP.citation needed Today, top allegiance pressings chase the Japanese accepted of 160, 180 or 200 grams.citation needed

Besides the accepted atramentous vinyl, specialty annal are aswell apprenticed on altered colors of PVC or appropriate "picture discs" with a agenda account sandwiched amid two bright sides. Annal in altered change shapes are aswell produced.